{"slug":"trump-election-fraud-claims-60-court-losses","title":"2020 Election Fraud Claims: 60+ Court Losses, No Evidence Found","date":"2020-11-04","lastUpdated":"2021-01-07","description":"Following the November 3, 2020 presidential election, Trump and his allies filed more than 60 lawsuits in multiple states alleging widespread fraud, irregularities, and unlawful election administration. All but one case failed — either dismissed for lack of standing, lack of evidence, or on the merits. Judges appointed by Republicans, by Trump himself, and by prior administrations uniformly rejected the fraud claims. The U.S. Department of Justice, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and every state election official who reviewed the results found no evidence of widespread fraud sufficient to affect the outcome.","summary":"Trump's legal team, led at various points by Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, made dramatic claims in press conferences — coordinated election fraud, Dominion Voting Systems switching votes, Venezuelan electoral interference, suitcases of fake ballots — that were not supported by evidence filed in court. Judges demanded evidence; Trump's lawyers repeatedly stated in court filings that they were not alleging fraud, only procedural irregularities. CISA Director Christopher Krebs called the 2020 election 'the most secure in American history'; Trump fired him. Attorney General Barr stated the DOJ had found no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the outcome; Trump pressured him to say otherwise and Barr resigned.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/us/politics/republicans-voter-fraud.html","title":"Trump Campaign's Election Lawsuits: 60 Failures","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/19/trump-election-fraud-lawsuits-dismissed/","title":"Trump's election lawsuits: A running tally of losses","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-trump-election-fraud-claims","title":"AP Fact Check: Trump's claims of election fraud rejected in courts","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/news/2020/11/12/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council","title":"Joint Statement on the Security of the 2020 U.S. Elections","publisher":"CISA"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["election-fraud","2020-election","court-losses","post-presidency","rule-of-law","Giuliani","Powell","Dominion"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2020-11-04","title":"Trump declares victory — refuses to accept results","summary":"The morning after Election Day, with results still being counted, Trump declares himself the winner and begins alleging fraud. Biden is called as the winner in multiple states as vote counting concludes."},{"date":"2020-11-09","title":"Legal challenge campaign begins","summary":"Trump's campaign begins filing election challenges in multiple states. Giuliani is placed in charge of legal efforts. The first wave of cases is dismissed for lack of standing or lack of evidence."},{"date":"2020-11-17","title":"Trump fires CISA Director Krebs","summary":"Trump fires Christopher Krebs, CISA director, after Krebs oversees a joint statement calling the 2020 election the most secure in American history. Krebs had coordinated federal, state, and local election security."},{"date":"2020-12-01","title":"Barr: no evidence of widespread fraud","summary":"AG Barr tells the Associated Press that DOJ has investigated the fraud allegations and found no evidence of widespread fraud sufficient to change the election outcome. Trump pressures Barr to reverse this statement. Barr does not. Barr resigns December 23."},{"date":"2021-01-02","title":"Trump pressures Raffensperger — 'find 11,780 votes'","summary":"On a recorded call, Trump asks Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger to 'find 11,780 votes' — exactly one more than Biden's Georgia margin. Raffensperger releases the recording publicly. The call forms the basis of Trump's subsequent Georgia criminal indictment."},{"date":"2021-01-07","title":"Final loss count — 60+ cases decided against Trump","summary":"After the January 6 Capitol attack and the certification of Biden's Electoral College victory, the full count of election legal actions stands at 60+ defeats for Trump. The pattern: dramatic public claims, no evidence filed in court, dismissal."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"post-presidency","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 25","provision":"The right of citizens to vote and have votes counted in genuine elections; the coordinated campaign to overturn certified election results constituted an attack on the democratic electoral process"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"American democratic institutions; election workers and officials who received death threats; states forced to conduct multiple recounts at public expense; Vice President Pence and members of Congress threatened during the January 6 attack that followed; public trust in electoral processes","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; refused to concede; filed and directed filing of more than 60 lawsuits; publicly claimed the election was stolen; fired officials who contradicted his claims; pressured state officials to 'find' votes; pressured the Vice President to refuse to certify results","institution":"White House / Trump Campaign"},{"name":"Rudy Giuliani","role":"Lead attorney for Trump campaign legal challenges; appeared at press conferences making allegations of fraud not filed in court; his law license was subsequently suspended by New York courts for conduct related to election fraud claims","institution":"Trump Campaign"},{"name":"Sidney Powell","role":"Attorney; alleged Dominion Voting Systems fraud, Venezuelan interference, and other claims not supported by evidence; was subsequently sued by Dominion for defamation ($1.3 billion); pleaded guilty to election interference charges in Georgia in 2023","institution":"Trump Campaign / personal"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2021-01-07","summary":"Final court loss count and Raffensperger call context."}]}}